Student groups, sororities, and fraternities have been around for centuries, yet it seems that the banks haven’t caught up with their needs yet. Business banking doesn’t offer the flexibility and ease of use that our student clubs need. Why is it so hard to manage student group finances? And is there a solution?
1. Slow Access to Funds
One of the major issues with banking for student clubs is the allocation of funds. Aside from the cash box, the treasurer of the club is typically the only one with access to finances via a debit card. Group chairs are generally given a budget and will make purchases with their own money then submit the receipts for reimbursement later.
One issue with this is the slow access to funds. Not all chairs will have the available funds to make the required purchases, especially if it is rush season and there are tons of events to organize. A delayed reimbursement process could result in a chair being hundreds of dollars out of pocket for the club’s expenses. Some societies use bank checks for reimbursements, which can take days to clear.
Conventional banks have little flexibility when it comes to banking for clubs. While businesses have secondary credit cards, most student club banking services are restricted to debit cards. This means that the treasurer has to hand over the main bank card if a member needs access to funds. Hardly an efficient or secure process.
2. Possibility of Fraud
Fraud and embezzlement are, unfortunately, a common complaint in student societies. When it comes to banking for Greek Life, accounts and cards are often issued in the name of the officers. This means that when there is a change of officers, the bank has to be notified to transfer ownership to the new officer.
It also means that an officer— or anybody who has hold of the card —has full control over funds. Reddit is full of horror stories about members who made off with society savings at the end of the school year.
For associations with multiple chapters, banking for chapters can present even more of an issue as chapter banking is not exactly transparent. You have to trust presidents and treasurers to manage the finances for their respective chapters and it can often be too late when you reconcile bank statements and discover discrepancies in the accounts. Even if things run cleanly and smoothly, reconciling expenses and tracking their reimbursement from a hundred different members’ personal accounts is perhaps the biggest nightmare.
3. Overdue Payments
While student associations are a family, they need to be run like a business as well. The bane of banking for associations is often the lack of cashflow. Students are not the most organized bunch and paying their club or fraternal dues can be the least pressing of their numerous commitments. Therefore, a treasurer will need to develop a thick skin when chasing up bills.
Billing members is a large part of any executive’s banking duties. It can be difficult to ask your friends for money, especially when they paint you as the bad guy. But, regardless of your fellow members’ financial woes, your organization stalls without funds. Keeping track of payments and chasing up overdue payments can be stressful and messy, but it is an essential part of the job for e-board members..
Introducing Crowded
Crowded.me is a mobile-first banking service designed specifically for sororities, fraternities and student clubs. Crowded digitizes your society’s financial transactions, allowing you to track expenses and make payments easily. Treasurers even have a dedicated portal to track accounts and payments in one place.
Remember how annoying it can be to allocate funds? Crowded allows treasurers to issue digital debit cards to society members so you can keep your main card safe and secure. Individual users can request funds and have them loaded onto their one-time digital debit card. No more out of pocket purchases that upset your peers, and no more tedious reporting for you!
Best of all, the member app comes with payment reminders, members are sent push notifications every day after a payment due date until the payment is settled, so say goodbye to those awkward social situations.
Crowded is better banking for clubs and groups. A one-stop-shop to incorporate, bank, track budgets, collect payments, apply for grants, allocate funds and file taxes. Let Crowded handle the bureaucratic and financial headaches, so that you can remain focused on the important work you do for your members and for society!
With Crowded’s rich suite of customizations and permissions organizations of any size and budget can build a multisided platforms with embedded banking for both members and executives, chapters and regional, national or campus governing bodies. Let Crowded do the heavy lifting and focus on enriching the life of your chapter!